doc

Thanks for the heads up, Nick!

And sorry the stay was so dreadful!

alexlin8

I had a similar experience with the people at the front desk at the Metropole. I get there and am told there are absolutely no suites available since there was a big conference. Since I'm an understanding Gold/Diamond, I say fine and go upstairs and find myself in a non-smoking room. Since I smoke, I didn't want to stink it up so I call the front desk for a smoking room and lo and behold I get myself a suite (?!?), BUT with the caveat that since they are so booked up, I can only have it that night. It's my first time in a European Hilton and so I figure why not. Next morning, I call down to confirm I have to switch rooms, they tell me I do. So I spend about a half an hour repacking things, I head down, only to be told that I DON'T need to switch out!! Now I shouldn't complain since I had a suite but could they be more clueless down at the front desk!??! And here's another observation, and I hope no one takes offense at it, it is simply what I noticed: those that work the front desk/concierge that were British seemed much friendlier and helpful than those that appeared to be foreign (ie French (don't get me wrong, service at the Paris Hilton was TERRIFIC). Is there an "exchange program" with the other Hiltons to train their people?

Merry

Stimpy: No I won't be complaining, I vote with my feet. I did my complaining on the spot. My company has an upcoming conference for all European Sales Managers - I was planning on having this at the Metropole, of course this won't be happening now.


Just in case there was any confusion, I was not angeling for a free upgrade - I offered to pay for a suite.


Idahost: I agree with you 100%. And notice that no-one here has really spoken about service, the only redeeming feature of the Metropole London seesm to be the cheap rates, I suppose that is the price you pay for bad service. But I can't help but feeling this will dumb down the Hilton International brand - maybe this property should be a Hilton National!?

Nick

mountain flyer

I stayed at the Metropole in February and it was my worst experience yet. They did not upgrade me to the executive floor and told me they didn't have a lounge. The cleaning staff did not replace the toiletries in the bathroom, and there was no soap at all. I ate at the restaurant on the ground floor. I ordered something from the menu and got something completely different. It wasn't the wrong item, as I think the chef made it up. Finally, even though I paid for the horrible breakfast buffett, they charged me for it anyway. God forbid I asked for a free breakfast.

I wrote a letter to Hilton HHonors, but never got a reply. I certainly won't be staying there again. Its too bad because it is a nice looking hotel in a good location.

Chris

alexlin8

Moutainflyer,

I had the same experience where they charged me for the breakfast even though its suppose to be complimentary for Gold. I just mentioned it at the front desk and they removed the charge for me- maybe contact the hotel directly?

NomadPerkins

Sorry you all had such a bad time at the Metropole. Following hints obtained at this site I chose the hotel for its location and rates for a brief visit to London in April (4/21) The hotel was jammed with some sort of international banking meeting, lots of men in dark suits milling about, metal detectors and x-ray machines at the doors. We had a rate of 108 pounds including breakfast, having only a Hilton Gold Card I was worried about stories of older rooms in some dark tower, but we received an upgrade to an executive floor room. Breakfast was on the 34th or something floor, great view and service. Only problem was with the evil mini-bar, we had a phantom charge appear on our bill, but after calling the Hilton Honors number on our return, they promised to look into it. 3 weeks later a letter from the hotel manager arrived apologizing for the mistake, credited my account, and offered a free upgrade for my next stay. I guess it all matters on which crew is working on the date of your stay. Thanks

wigstheone

I was also there during the European Regional Development Bank meeting in April. Passing through the metal detectors was a bit of detour, but the lines moved much better than at a typical airport. Checked in first thing in the morning, was upgraded to executive floor, which was well furnished with lots of room. Health club is small but has good equipment, although it doesn't open early enough, IMO. Had one non-sensical mini-bar charge (less than half of the cost of the cheapest item in the mini-bar), which was removed immediately at the front desk upon checking out.

Lurch

I am somewhat surprised by the negative reviews on the London Metropole. I am planning to be in London for a week in the fall. About a month ago I did a search on the London Hiltons, and I found the ones on the Metropole to be mostly positive especially in the giving upgrades and breakfast to golds. Based on that I booked a week's reward stay. I guess I'll just have to see for myself.

ryker

With a little trepidation after reading this post I stayed at the Metropole on Wednesday night. Checked in at 9pm and handed my Diamond card to the receptionist and hey presto! Immediate upgrade - no problem. This was my first stay as an Honors Diamond and I'm not disappointed. Desk clerk was English, extremely courteous and professional. Once in my room she sent a porter with chocolates, Highland Spring water and a handwritten note from her to wish me a pleasant stay. Nice touch.



[This message has been edited by ryker (edited 05-25-2001).]

milonaire2

Well, I think the above just goes to show how a decent front of house Manager and proper staff training could get rid of most of the those gripes.

No-one has said the property is crap, as indeed it should not be after its multi-million pound re-fit.

It's just training. If the reception staff knew what a HH elite meant to the group's on-going business (see cancellation of small convention mentioned above), then they might think twice about upgrades and late check-outs, which cost the hotel NOTHING.

Also, if they were trained to read the computer properly, they would know which rooms are vacant, which can be checked out late, and how to extend a tab after the room is checked out.

It's down to the General Manager, and perhaps he needs to go for some re-training Adam!

By co-incidence, I am writing a letter of complaint to the Hyde Park Mandarin Oriental, London, (where Madonna used to stay) that I visited yesterday. All I can find to complain about is that there are some stupid spelling mistakes on the wine list! Yet, everything else was so well done that errors like that detract from the whole.

P.S. I don't have a spell check on this e-mail so don't complain to me if there are any errors in this post. I am not charging $450 a night!

[This message has been edited by milonaire2 (edited 05-25-2001).]

brits_in_va

Any suggestions on what I should do? I have just stayed at the london metropole and while the staff on check in were courteous the staff on exit were downright rude. I ordered pay movies last night when I came back from my night out, and had problems with the system. Every 5 minutes the film would mess up, and i'd lose sound and have to rechoose the channel (worrying about being charged 3 or 4 times) in the end I gave up and went to sleep without watching the whole film. In the morning I was listening to the radio and guess what? It didnt work. Now I don't really care about that but having paid £8 = $12 for a movie I expected them to at least say on check out heres a refund for the film. The response of the shift leader for reception was, "you should have called us last nite, we have 24hrs maintenance and reception". I did not know this, as I assumed most maintenance crews don't work at 1am. I asked what she'd do about this and she was not even the slightest bit interested. Then I told her im staying a whole week at the hotel in july with my parents in 2 rooms and wanted to see the club rooms we r booked into, she said that they have a policy of not showing people these rooms on sundays, but I overheard another couple who requested to c a club room from another agent and the reply was certainly this way please. I told her this but yet again she couldnt care less. If this is the attitude of hilton reception staff towards HHonors gold members I think they are doing a good job of driving me to take my biz elsewhere. Should I complain to manager of hotel, or to someone at Hilton Group, or HHonors? Hilton are risking losing a newly acquired customer who has many years of stays ahead of him hopefully. Any suggestions gratefully appreciated!!

jan_az

In the UK a lot of it is "attitude" - yours and theirs. We Americans have a hard time with this. I would e-mail Hilton about the 12USD. As far being Hilton Gold - they just give that away now, so I don' think the hotels give it much credibility anymore. If you had 'earned' the gold you would have known that Hiltons ( not Hampton Inns, etc) do have maintenance on call 24/7. I think this is probably what the desk clerk was picking up on.

[This message has been edited by jan_az (edited 05-27-2001).]

TransWorldOne

Are you serious, jan? I must say your post is truly laughable.

Brit, my suggestion would be a letter of complaint addressing your issues to Hilton International Customer Service, CC'd to the GM of the hotel.

Desk clerks are sometimes reluctant to adjust movie charges. They often presume that the guest is simply trying to scam the hotel out of the £8. As for the hotel having staff available at 1AM, that is irrelevant. I can understand a guest's desire not to be disturbed by hotel maintenance or deal with this situation at such a late hour.

Sweet Willie

Seems like the hotel could care less about your problems, I would write HHonors, they are usually quite responsive.

As for waiting till the morning, after experiencing many problems in hotels, a word to the night manager about your problem (EVEN IF THE PROBLEM WILL NOT GET FIXED) has always resulted in getting partial credit. Waiting until morning w/out giving the hotel a chance to fix their error, I've found is much more difficult to get it resolved. Word to the Wise, even if you don't want a maintenance person to fix your problem, call the manager and note your problem w/them for reference the next day.

I don't quite understand the "If you had 'earned' the gold you would have known that Hiltons" statement either.

Sweet Willie

The latest threads on dismal service from the Metropole is disturbing.

This was always one of my favorite low-priced London Hiltons.